Threat Matrix: March 2008

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[nwctwx]

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In'

U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq.

They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007.

"Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More

	Militants Assert Themselves in Pakistan
	U.S. Optimistic about Afghanistan Reinforcements
	‘You Have to Rethink War’

Threat Matrix:
March 2008

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[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983955/posts

“Mexico Security Memo: March 10, 2008”
Stratfor ^ | March 10, 2008
Posted on 03/11/2008 11:20:11 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch

[Cindy]

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3028.html

Travel Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
This information is current as of today, Tue Mar 11 2008 19:09:59 GMT-0700 (PDT).

Mexico

October 24, 2007

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/russia/

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Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984167/posts

EXCLUSIVE-UPDATE 3-Russia warns against Georgia NATO membership
wiredispatch ^ | 3/11/08 | Christian Lowe
Posted on 03/11/2008 6:57:16 PM PDT by Flavius

MOSCOW, March 11 (Reuters) - NATO will trigger outright secession by Georgia’s Moscow-backed rebel regions if the alliance puts Georgia on the path to membership, Russia’s ambassador to NATO told Reuters on Tuesday.

(Excerpt) Read more at wiredispatch.com ...

[MamaDearest]

....the latest jihadis taking up the global call for action more closely resemble criminal gang members than religious fanatics....

That is so true Granny.

Fears grow over LA gang wars

Police in southern California are trying to calm fears that black and Latino gang wars are heating up, but admit that with over 800 gangs in action, they need help.

[MamaDearest]

Judge sides with CAIR against Michael Savage

A Clinton-appointed judge in California is siding with the Council on Islamic-American Relations in a lawsuit by radio talk-show host Michael Savage.

Google's latest anti-Jewish outrage

Is there an anti-Semitic programming troublemaker at Google? Is some nitwit just making ghastly and inappropriate decisions about search suggestions? Or is the whole multi-gazillion-dollar business running on auto-pilot?

Those were some of the questions going through the minds of the search giant's users today as they discovered a query for "Yiddish" images suggested "Also try zyklon b" – the insidious gas used to kill Jews in Nazi death camps.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/michigan/

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/elf/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/earthliberationfront/

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080312/ap_on_re_us/michigan_eco_terrorism

“Feds: 4 charged in Mich. ecoterror fire”
By TIM MARTIN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Mar 11, 10:01 PM ET
EAST LANSING, Mich. -

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Charged with conspiracy to commit arson are Marie Jeanette Mason, 46, of Cincinnati; Frank Brian Ambrose, 33, of Detroit; Aren Bernard Burthwick, 27, of Detroit; and Stephanie Lynne Fultz, 27, of Detroit. The charge is punishable by five to 20 years in prison. Mason and Ambrose are also charged with arson, which is punishable by seven to 40 years.

The indictment says that Mason and Ambrose entered Agriculture Hall in the early evening and that while Mason remained in building, Ambrose went and bought gasoline. He then returned and lit a fuse, and fumes from the dumped gasoline began to explode. That interrupted Mason’s spray-painting of “No GMO” — shorthand for “No Genetically Modified Organisms” — on a nearby wall.

None of the defendants has been arraigned. Mason remained in custody Tuesday afternoon, but authorities said the others had been released on bond.

An attorney for Ambrose declined to comment Tuesday. A message was left seeking comment from an attorney for Burthwick, and as of Tuesday afternoon, lawyers for Mason and Fultz were not listed on a federal court Web page.

As part of the same indictment, the four defendants also are charged with arson in the Jan. 1, 2000, burning of commercial logging equipment near Mesick, Mich., in Wexford County. Those charges are punishable by five to 20 years.

The Michigan State fire caused $1 million in damage to the East Lansing school’s historic Agriculture Hall, including offices that housed a project aimed at enhancing the use of crop biotechnology in developing countries. No one was injured in the blaze.”

[Cindy]

INA TODAY.com
http://www.inatoday.com

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Thanks to Toby Westerman for pointing to this article:

http://www.inatoday.com/webofterror31208.htm

March 12, 2008

International News Analysis Today
By Toby Westerman

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Today Latin American neo-Marxists are awash in money. The FARC obtains millions of dollars from narcotic sales, and supplements those funds with the proceeds from kidnapping and extortion. Venezuela is a world oil supplier, while Chavez allies Ecuador and Bolivia are attempting to exploit reserves of natural gas.

FARC and its state supporters, especially the Chavez regime, can afford to carry on a prolonged offensive against the United States with the object of isolating and then undermining the U.S. government. The aggression is real, so also must be the U.S. response.”

[Cindy]

RECAP and UPDATED:

WorldNetDaily. "JUDGE SIDES WITH CAIR AGAINST MICHAEL SAVAGE" (March 11, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "IslamOnline: COALITION ORGANIZING AGAINST CAIR TO DEFEND SAVAGE" (December 5, 2007)

Link

"www.savage-productions.com/Savage_CAIR_suit.html"

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "JIHADIS NOTICE MICHAEL SAVAGE" (November 11, 2007)

Link

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for the link, I passed it on to Milford421.

[Cindy]

Note: America is NICE to our terrorist detainees.-Cindy

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blog:

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2008/03/yes-this-is-operator-ive-got-someone.html

TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008
“Yes, This is the Operator, I’ve Got Someone Named Abu Calling Collect From Club Gitmo”

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“Gitmo detainees allowed phone calls”
By MICHAEL MELIA, Associated Press Writer
56 minutes ago
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, said the telephone policy reflects a commitment to maintaining the health and well-being of Guantanamo detainees. No start date has been set for the program.

It was not clear how the military plans to monitor the calls.”

[Cindy]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=taliban+%2B+telephone+call&btnG=Google+Search

Google Summary Snippet:

Web Results 1 - 10 of about 87,900 for taliban + telephone call. (0.07 seconds)
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Taliban reviving structure in Afghanistan - Salon.com
Apr 7, 2003 | Before executing the International Red Cross worker, the Taliban gunmen made a satellite telephone call to their superior for instructions: ...
dir.salon.com/story/news/ wire/2003/04/07/taliban/index.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages
Foreign Policy In Focus | Talk to the Taliban
Aug 16, 2007 ... Meanwhile, the Taliban has rejected the Jirga as a “U.S.-sponsored farce. .... It took a telephone call from Secretary of State Condoleezza ...
www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4474 - 26k - Cached - Similar pages
NPR: Cell Phones Connect Afghans to Rest of World
Feb 26, 2008 ... Afghans and Taliban militants are increasingly relying on cell phones. ... And you can see now mobile telephone marks all over the country. ...
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19357336 - Similar pages

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/china

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/FOREIGN/117017876/1001

Page 1 of 2 next |
“China left off list of violators”
By Nicholas Kralev
March 12, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The State Department yesterday dropped China from its list of the world’s top human rights violators, prompting criticism that the move marks an unwarranted concession to Beijing ahead of the Olympic Games this summer.

Department officials insisted that China’s absence from this year’s list, which includes Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Burma among others, is not linked to the Olympics and has little meaning overall, because the list is informal with no legal consequences.”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1984265/posts?page=5#5

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1984265/posts

“Slaughter, jubilation, and the ‘peace process’”
The Boston Globe ^ | 3/12/08 | Jeff Jacoby
Posted on 03/12/2008 1:49:54 AM PDT by MartinaMisc

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984268/posts

“Deer urine prank makes students ill”
Yahoo ^ | 3/11/2008 | n/a
Posted on 03/12/2008 2:10:20 AM PDT by DemforBush
CHURCH HILL, Tenn.

[Cindy]

Off Topic, but interesting.

Thanks to Jet Jaguar for starting this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984269/posts

“NASA puzzles over mysterious debris that struck shuttle”
AFP via Breitbart ^ | Mar 12, 2008 | AFP
Posted on 03/12/2008 2:17:33 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Endeavour astronauts inspected the space shuttle’s heat shield Wednesday, while NASA puzzled over a mysterious piece of debris that may have struck the shuttle’s nose just after launch.

Officials at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas refused to speculate on the origin or even the size of the debris captured on camera 10 seconds after launch. Nor are they sure if it struck the shuttle.

“It looks like it’s not coming from the orbiter, and you can’t really tell if it strikes the orbiter or not,” flight director Mike Moses told reporters after viewing video of the debris.

“I can’t even begin to speculate on what it could be,” Moses said, stressing that specialists would be analyzing it in great detail.

“We should let the experts do the math. We got some good video that at least shows it in multiple frames so they’ll be able to do a trajectory analysis to see where it came from,” he said.”

[Cindy]

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3518076,00.html

Mortar lands near Gaza security fence
Published: 03.12.08, 09:14 / Israel News

A mortar shell fired from Gaza landed in an open field near the security fence separating Israel from the Strip. There were no reports of injuries or damage. (Shmulik Hadad)

[Cindy]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1205261310557&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Mar 12, 2008 10:05 | Updated Mar 12, 2008 11:15
“IDF kills Jihad operative in W. Bank”
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “IDF troops killed an Islamic Jihad operative in a predawn gunbattle in the West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.

Troops surrounded a house in the village of Saida, near Tulkarem, and demanded that its occupants come out, according to resident Abdel Karim Hammad, whose family lives in the house. Saleh Karkur, 27, a wanted Islamic Jihad gunman...”

[Cindy]

ADDING links to post no. 353:

www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/6054.htm

http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/6054.htm
(”Sources: www.ghaliboun.net, March 7, 2008; Al-Thawra, Teshreen, Syria; Al-Sudani, Sudan, March 9, 2008”)

“Reactions To Jerusalem Seminary Attack: Praise From Syria, Sudan; Lebanese Shi’ite Cleric: “An Heroic Operation”; Sudanese Journalist: Victims Were No Innocents”

Posted at: 2008-03-10

[Cindy]

http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080311_statement.pdf

“STATEMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE REGARDING
HOUSE FISA PROPOSAL “
(March 11, 2008)

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080311-8.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 11, 2008

Statement by the Press Secretary

Today the House of Representatives failed to override the President’s veto of the Intelligence Authorization Bill. The President believes that he has no higher responsibility than protecting the American people. The President also believes in making sure the Intelligence Community has the tools necessary to protect America from attack. By requiring the Intelligence Community to use only the interrogation methods authorized in the publicly available Army Field Manual, the bill would have eliminated the legal alternative procedures in place in the CIA program to question the world’s most dangerous and violent terrorists. The CIA program has produced critical intelligence and helped us prevent a number of attacks. An override of the President’s veto would have diminished the Intelligence Community’s ability to protect our Nation.

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